Bedtime
by Feistyy
Summary: Gray and Juvia spend their first night in their home. Timeskip spoilers. Rated T for safety. It's late so I hope they aren't terribly out of character.


Disclaimer: Characters are Hiro Mashima's; I make no profit.

Bedtime

The cabin was fully furnished, which was great. It meant less to transport from Magnolia and less to worry about when they moved on. Once they'd gotten stronger. Once they'd picked up a lead on END. Gray had done his research. He'd asked several locals if there were any decent rentals in the area and they had, without fail, pointed him to this one. One old lady in particular had remembered him and Juvia from the Grand Magic Games and said the place was perfect for them. Gray had assumed this was because the cabin was at the edge of the village, close to a stream that would really help with Juvia's training.

Staring at the single bed, Gray realised that the biddy may have been confused as to the status of his relationship with his nakama. He'd noticed this happening every so often during their travels - waiters assuming the bill would be "together" and putting two straws in Juvia's ridiculous girly drinks, hotel staff quoting prices for the couple's suite - and he was sure it have everything to do with Juvia's "display" at the Grand Magic Games. That "Gray-sama Wings of Love Gray-sama Love Love Gray-sama" nonsense. That had to be it.

But the lease was signed and, in all other aspects, it _was_ pretty perfect for them. So, Gray had chosen to ignore it until the last possible minute. It was past midnight and it had been a busy day. Apparently, Juvia was a "nester." It was fascinating. Barely in the door, and she was flitting around unpacking household items, dragging him down to the market to look for things she hadn't brought, asking his opinion, directing him where to best reposition the furniture, apparently not noticing that anything was missing. She was a whirlwind and Gray had to admit that it was pretty (very) cute. In a strangely intimidating way. All of the activity had left them both feeling fulfilled and spent. So Gray had suggested they turn in, stomach cold and gurgling in anticipation of the scene he knew would be coming. It would be awkward, it would be painful, and it would probably involve waking Juvia from several fantasies. He could only hope she hadn't assumed he'd known about this, that he wouldn't have to dash too many of her hopes.

"Um... Gray-sama..." Juvia was standing in front of her dresser, behind him. Gray couldn't look at her. She must have noticed. She wasn't squealing. She wasn't throwing herself at him. That was a relief. _And a disappointment_ whispered a tiny voice he kept locked in the back of his head, not under as tight security as the Gray that liked to dance, but certainly not free to roam.

"Juvia must... that is... if we're going to bed... Juvia needs to..." Juvia needs to what? Be read a bedtime story? Know where the other bed was? Put in her diaphragm? He tried to arrange the possibilities in order of his own preference, trying not to think about their order of probability.

"Juvia needs to change." Oh. He hadn't thought of that. He was already facing the opposite direction, so he grunted to let her know that he had heard and knew not to turn around.

"Ah... Gray-sama, could you..." Could he what? Help her pick which pajamas to wear? Help her undress? Prepare a condom? He was having a much harder time sorting through these options. He had no plan of attack.

"Could you leave?" Oh. He hadn't thought of that either. He felt the relief-disappointment again. Did she really not trust him not to turn around? Hell, did she really not _want _him to turn around? Now it was relief-disappointment-confusion, with an extra helping of the confusion.

As he trudged out into the night, he thought that if he still smoked, he'd be on his third cigarette by now. He wondered vaguely what Juvia would have thought of his smoking; if she'd insist he keep it outdoors; if she'd try to make him quit; if she would still want to be living with him. He'd thought the answer to the last question would always be an unequivocal "yes," but apparently he could be mistaken. Which brought him back to why he was standing outside his own front door in the middle of the night while a girl who was admittedly very attractive and admittedly very important to him was undressing inside.

He had been sure she would take any opportunity to seduce him. He thought back over their time together. And he came up with a blank. There was that time she'd suggested he "punish" her on Tenroujima. Did that count as seduction? He didn't feel like it did.

But even if she wasn't actively trying to tempt him, surely she wouldn't _mind_ if he saw her. It wasn't like seeing a nakama naked was a rare occurrence in Fairy Tail. Accidents happened. Clothes got lost in battle. Sometimes the girls just showed up practically naked. It wasn't like you had to actively try to peep on a girl to see a bit of skin. In fact, the harder you tried, the less likely you were to be successful. He blushed as he remembered the time he, Natsu, Jet, and Droy, had tried to spy on the girls in a hot spring. He blushed harder as he remembered why he'd been so willing to go with them. To see what Juvia was hiding under her layers, what nobody had seen. Not counting bathing suits, the first time she'd purposely shown even a hint of her cleavage was at the Grand Magic Games. And thinking back, that had caught him off guard more than her sudden appearance in Crocus. She was shy about her assets.

But she was not shy about her intentions with him. Maybe she was sending him out just so that when he returned she could be waiting, artfully arranged in lingerie. Or nothing at all. Or handcuffs.

When she called him back in, she was laying on the couch with a blanket pulled up to her chin. What was she wearing that he couldn't see? Why was she wearing it if she didn't want him to see?

"Goodnight, Gray-sama. Tomorrow is Juvia's turn in the bed."

He began to undress himself and realised that his clothes were in the front yard. That explained why Juvia's fingers were covering her eyes. He watched her as he climbed into the bed and she only peeked twice.

Despite all of the fantasies, despite all the innuendos, Juvia Lockser was a very modest girl.

While he had been outside, she had quickly indulged the inner fangirl that had been screaming to be let out since she'd walked in the door and noticed the sparse furnishings but also noticed Gray noticing the sparse furnishings, calmly assessed the situation, come up with a fair solution, and presented it in a way that eliminated an awkward conversation. They would alternate nights in the bed and on the couch. For now.

"Juvia."

"Yes, Gray-sama?"

"Remember how, at the ball in Crocus, I told you I would let you know whenever you did something I didn't like?"

A long second of silence, followed by a soft "Mhmm."

"I can't say no if you don't ask."

"I know Gray-sama. That's why I always do."


End file.
